Don’t cut the budget on the backs of the vulnerable

Letter to Democrat and Chronicle 01/25/2013

This is in response to the business CEOs calling for raising the retirement age to 70 for Social Security and Medicare, privatizing Medicare, and having smaller increases in annual benefits (Jan. 17 story). Social Security, our earned benefit, has never added one penny to the deficit, and can be strengthened by lifting the cap on income subject to Social Security taxes.

Let’s have “entitlement” reform come from cuts to corporate welfare. Large corporations should pay federal taxes, and have offshore tax havens and other tax loopholes closed. U.S. corporate profits have grown by 171 percent under President Obama.

Other ways to deal with the debt: a small tax on financial speculation transactions would raise billions; and defense spending, which amounted to nearly $700 billion in 2011, could also be cut.

There is no reason to balance the budget on the backs of seniors and those most vulnerable, which is what these greedy and uncaring CEOs would love to do.